Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Finance. Last Wednesday, the Minister of Finance tabled the government's What We Heard report on their policy review of the Affirmative Action Policy. Following this report, can the Minister explain what the government intends to do next regarding the affirmative action. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister responsible for Finance.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I was very pleased to be able to table this report. This has been a long time coming in terms of the work happening around affirmative action but, more importantly, around the hiring of Indigenous Northerners to the public service. And, Mr. Speaker, I can certainly say that the commitment of the Department of Finance and Human Resources to seeing achievement in terms of actual diversity and inclusion in public service remains firm.
With respect to what will happen next, Mr. Speaker, this is a policy that is of the executive council, and so there has been work done now to put together what a new policy might look like, to put together what a new direction might look like. The evacuations and the changes of timelines have made that somewhat a bit more difficult to act upon, but that work has certainly continued through that process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so can the Minister confirm if the government is firm on its assessment and decision to replace this old, outdated policy, the Affirmative Action Policy, within the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can't obviously speak for the executive as its entirety since that, again, is a policy that belongs to Cabinet as a whole. But I would certainly say that, yes indeed, the Government of the Northwest Territories is firm in its commitment to prioritize the hiring of northern Indigenous candidates and firm in its commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace.
Mr. Speaker, much has happened over these last four years, not the least of which is a public service strategic plan, which we didn't have before, the Indigenous recruitment and retention framework, which we didn't have before, implementation targets that are now public, and a diversity and inclusion framework. So much has happened, Mr. Speaker. I realize the affirmative action program is one more piece of that, but I would still say that all of those actions do speak loudly that we remain firmly committed to this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So can the Minister confirm that when and I'm going to say when, not if when the new Indigenous Employment Policy Comes into force, the existing Affirmative Action Policy will be revoked and will cease to exist? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, indeed, the an Indigenous Employment Policy was the subject of what was being consulted upon and various drafts were put out for review and for consideration and, indeed, if that were to be the direction that we go, that would end the now 30 someyearold Affirmative Action Policy and bring with it the implementation of a new policy. It may be, Mr. Speaker, particularly given the timing, that we would want to delay implementation or we may want to make it, you know, a pilot or something that gives us a bit of breathing space, recognizing where we are in our timing and the challenges we've had this summer with timing. But in short, it's certainly if there's a new policy, that is the point; that it replaces the old one. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, I understand the Minister in saying if but when I'm going to just keep saying when. When this policy is approved and it is implemented, how long would the Minister consider the timeline to be before we would start seeing the changes at the frontline? Because every single one of us as MLAs, we all are MLAs first, have heard from our constituents on problems with hiring in the GNWT workforce. So when can this Minister when the policy comes into play, how long will it take for this government or the next government to have it roll out? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, no one should wait. No one should wait. And, Mr. Speaker, I would encourage people the Department of Finance does now have a full online reporting mechanism around Indigenous employment and around the Indigenous recruitment and retention framework. It includes all of the different steps that we had put to ourselves to achieve under the framework. It also now has publicized the targets for hiring of Indigenous candidates, and reporting on all of the implementation of that has begun. So no one should wait. That should be a tool, and the department should be held to it. All departments should be held to it because every department's targets are on there.
With respect to a new policy, Mr. Speaker, the beauty of it being policy is that it will have some more flexibility. If there's a new policy, typically what would happen is it does give an opportunity for departments and agencies to get used to it, to look at it, to refine it, to make sure that it is, in fact, the best one. So I can't give a timeline for a thing that we haven't announced. I can only say that, again, no one should be waiting. They should be using the tools that are already out there to their fullest ability. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.
